Reply #49: This school board has heard a lot from the scientific community.

[atommom]

The reason the scientists are boycotting the hearings is that many of them did speak up earlier in the process ... and the conservative board members paid no attention whatsoever. They had already made their decision.

It's also not that easy to defend science to non-scientists in the public square. All the ID crowd has to do is raise doubts, get attention, and come up with some snappy soundbites. The scientists are at a clear disadvantage, even though they have far more evidence on their side. It's hard to reduce years of scientific inquiry into a soundbite, and observers who don't have much of a science background will not necessarily understand why the scientists' arguments have so much more weight.

The ID people also have a great deal of support from conservative religious groups. I'm aware that not all ID proponents are Christians, but the players in our current Kansas drama have made many statements about how God needs to be brought into the schools. This is not a fight about science ... it's a fight about rebuilding our culture. That is why I keep bringing up the Domininionists, and that's why I get cranky when people suggest this whole fight is because of Kansas' inherent stupidity. It's a lot bigger than that.